Caught in the Sun: Lucky Bounce
by TachyonOne
Summary: Inuyasha and Kagome track down a mischievous demon at a World Cup match. Part of a special fanfic series.


For more information about this fanfic series, go to http://www.infinitedeferral.com/ or for other fanfics in this series, go to my profile at http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=79367 .  
  
Caught in the Sun  
  
A 2002 World Cup / Anime Fanfic Series  
  
By Roehl Sybing (indef@infinitedeferral.com)  
  
Episode Six: Lucky Bounce  
  
Group E: Cameroon v Saudi Arabia @ Saitama  
  
An Inuyasha Fanfic  
  
"Saudi Arabia, after being thrashed 8-0 by Germany, are looking to make their outcome at this World Cup the least bit respectable. They will have to do it against Sydney gold medalists Cameroon, the team that kept even with Ireland to remain in the running for the round of sixteen. The Saudi manager, hired for the sole purpose of getting to and making a splash in the World Cup, told reporters earlier today that they want to tackle one problem at a time. Their first task, above all, is to score a goal to simply prove they are worthy of their place at this World Cup. Easier said than done, as they play their second group game in front of a partisan, largely Cameroon crowd at Saitama Stadium."  
  
---  
  
Once inside the stadium, Kagome looked about the place. There were tens of thousands of people in the stands, to say nothing of the hundred or so people along the sidelines. The phantom they were chasing, the demon that not only owned a piece of the shattered Shikon Jewel but also slipped into the well to avoid capture, was here, she was sure of it. She could not be certain, however, of how to predict its movements. The power of the Shikon shard allowed the beady-eyed, white-fanged creature to turn invisible to all but those who also possessed a piece of the Jewel, but only then did it take some effort to spot the demon. It faded in and out during all of her recent experiences in chasing it down, appearing to her involuntarily whenever the Shikon shard needed a moment to gather its energies again.  
  
Kagome turned around. Where was Inuyasha?  
  
"SIT!" she commanded, causing her partner, disguised only with a baseball cap to keep suspicions at bay, to fall flat onto the concrete steps between the sections of seats where the two entered.  
  
"What!?" Inuyasha said, rising to his feet, "This is your world, so it's your problem, not mine!"  
  
"If that thing gets away, who knows what it'll do with its piece of the Jewel! And don't you want it for yourself?"  
  
He folded his arms, saying, "There's plenty others to find! And besides, it's far too risky with so many people around."  
  
Kagome glanced at him, "What, are you afraid?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I said, are you afraid?"  
  
"I am not afraid of anything!" Inuyasha said confidently, "I'm just trying to make things easier for you, that's all."  
  
"Uh-huh, whatever. You know, you are the most--"  
  
Kagome stopped in mid-sentence as the two of them were drowned out by the collective groans of the stadium crowd. They looked to see what was the matter, and there, on the field, lay a player grasping his ankle and recoiling in pain, as two other men rushed onto midfield with a stretcher. What was strange about the injury is that he did not have the ball, and that there were no others near him to inflict anything.  
  
"There!" Kagome cried, "Do you see that?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Down there, on the field!" she said. Sure enough, sensing the whereabouts of the lost Shikon shard, Kagome caught a glimpse of the demon that had been eluding them for so long. It hovered around the injured player, obviously having had something to do with his plight.  
  
"C'mon!" she said, "We gotta stop it from hurting more people!"  
  
"Wait," Inuyasha replied, "How are we going to get down there?"  
  
"You let me worry about that, alright? And put your cap back on, I don't want people noticing!"  
  
---  
  
"We are approaching the late minutes of the match as Cameroon clings ever so desperately to a one-nil lead. But the story this afternoon has been the injuries that have inexplicably been mounting on both sides. Conditions have been very good as a dry heat sweeps over Saitama Stadium, but the pitch has claimed responsibility for several miscues by both teams. Both managers have had to use all of their substitutions to compensate for a very physical game that has seen Cameroon's star striker severely injure his ankle and two of Saudi Arabia's midfielders sprain their leg muscles. Trust us, folks, rarely have we seen such unnatural conditions at this level of soccer."  
  
---  
  
By the time Kagome and Inuyasha navigated the tunnels of the stadium to sneak onto the field, the benches of both teams had quickly resembled a MASH unit, with players lined about tending to their injuries. The two of them ducked behind the hooded bench of one of the teams, outside of the view of television cameras from above.  
  
The players in question didn't have elaborate stories to tell about their fresh scars; they simply couldn't explain them. One moment a player would be making a run on the field, the next he was tripped up by something he clearly did not see. Everyone else who suffered had the same similar experience.  
  
From her vantage point behind the plastic hood of the bench, Kagome saw the creature wander about the field, looking for its next victim and motivated only by its own mischief. Before fading out again, it seemed to laugh in delight, cognizant of the trouble it was causing for everyone involved.  
  
"It's taunting us," Kagome said with half-hearted dejection.  
  
"Uh, I think you're exaggerating," Inuyasha replied.  
  
"I am not!" she said, short-fused, "I just want to return the favor, that's all!"  
  
Kagome stopped, and turned silent.  
  
"What're you talking about?" Inuyasha asked.  
  
"Uh, nothing."  
  
He then stared her down, saying, "C'mon. Out with it!"  
  
Kagome bit her lip. There was no going around it. "I was bathing in the lake the other day. That...thing tore up all my clothes and nearly drowned me when I wasn't paying attention! That's why it's got a piece of the Jewel!"  
  
Inuyasha looked at her, almost forcing back a smirk and an outburst of laughter. "Wait a minute," he said, "Is that why--?"  
  
"Yeah, that's why I was wearing...OK, but that's not the point!"  
  
"So that's what this is about! Looking for a little revenge, huh?"  
  
"Are you going to help me or not?" Kagome said, careful not to seem like she was pleading.  
  
Inuyasha nodded, "Alright, alright! This should be easy, it doesn't seem too bright anyways. You got some shards, right?"  
  
"Yeah," Kagome said, "Hold on, I'm not giving them to you!"  
  
"Do you want me to lure it off the field or do you want to do it yourself?"  
  
"Well, I...alright, I'll do it! It seems to like me anyways! You just finish it off, OK?"  
  
As they argued, the creature on the field, invisible to all but its pursuers, watched yet another player taken away from the field with the assistance of others. With all the substitutions exhausted, that left both sides with only ten players each, making the game very uncertain, much to the joy of the mischievous phantom.  
  
"Hey! You there! Get over here!"  
  
The demon looked Kagome's way. There, in her hand, waved about her small pouch, undoubtedly containing more Shikon shards for it to steal. The things it could do with even greater power. And she looked so defenseless, too! Such an easy prize, the phantom surmised before foolishly drifting towards her. It hardly even noticed the soccer ball that was shot in his direction, bouncing off its side.  
  
---  
  
"Soft touch, deflected off the keeper, score! Third minute of stoppage time, Saudi Arabia and Cameroon, one-one! They save face in this tournament by putting one in the net!"  
  
"Take a look at this. Lot of talk in this World Cup about this new ball. It has had a lot of strange bounces off the pitch in many matches in this tournament, forcing even the toughest defense off their game. Now, this ball moved about in quite an unusual fashion for the past couple of minutes, and that may have forced Cameroon to settle for a draw against Saudi Arabia."  
  
"They were just about ready to whistle this game to full time, when the Saudis pushed the ball into the box. You can call it unnatural or just plain lucky, but something besides the Saudi strikers played a hand in that equalizer, and that will give both teams a single point each, something Saudi Arabia can hang their hats on in light of their embarrasing opener just days ago."  
  
---  
  
Kagome ducked into the tunnel exiting the field from underneath the seats. She could not see it, but she knew it was there, coming to get her. And the lack of vision in the ill-lit tunnel didn't help any, either. But she had to put a stop to it.  
  
She walked backwards very slowly as she progressed deeper into the hallway. Her fingertips made contact with a figure behind her before she took her last step.  
  
"You ready?" Kagome said quietly.  
  
"Shh," she heard Inuyasha say.  
  
The two of them heard the cheers of the crowd, muffled by the concrete of the tunnel underneath the stadium. They waited in silence for the demon to grow near.  
  
At last, the phantom that had escaped them finally showed itself, glowing with the power of its portion of the Shikon Jewel. With its figure in plain sight, Inuyasha drew the Tetsusaiga and brandished its power for the demon to see and fear. It had little time to react, as he, with one single stroke, cut through its very being, dispatching it from existence.  
  
They both breathed a sigh of relief. "This is getting really easy," Inuyasha said as he knelt down.  
  
"Nah-ah," Kagome said, stopping him from taking the shard left behind by the demon, "Nice try, though."  
  
They heard the sound of a whistle when she stood back up and secured the lost shard back in her pouch. "Oh, damn it," she said, "We must've missed the whole game."  
  
---  
  
Kagome and Inuyasha walked away from the stadium, beating the rush of the crowds after the end of the match.  
  
"Curious," he said, "What was going on in there?"  
  
"Hmm? Oh, that was a soccer match," Kagome said.  
  
"A what?"  
  
"A game. It's where two teams kick around a ball, trying to get it into their opponents' goal."  
  
"Well," Inuyasha said, pulling out an item, "That explains this, then."  
  
Kagome's jaw dropped as she eyed the match ball in his possession, "You stole it?"  
  
He shrugged, "It was lying around! Besides, they had others to go with it!"  
  
"That's not the point, you're not supposed to--"  
  
"OK, OK!" Inuyasha said, then dropping the ball to his feet before kicking it away a good distance from the two of them.  
  
Kagome grabbed Inuyasha and shook him violently back and forth, "What'd you do that for?"  
  
Inuyasha looked confused, "You told me I shouldn't have stolen it!"  
  
"I know what I said, but since you had one, I might as well...do you know how valuable those are?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Oh, I'll never understand you!" Kagome said, storming in front of him, "Don't talk to me!"  
  
"But, but--"  
  
"SIT!"  
  
END.  
  
Next match:  
  
Episode Seven: Sweden v Nigeria @ Kobe  
  
A You're Under Arrest! Fanfic 


End file.
